


Of Hawaiian Shirts and Sundresses

by Allusivity



Category: ITZY (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Drama, Eventual Fluff, F/F, Humor, Mutual Pining, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Slow Build, Teenage Rebellion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25036171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allusivity/pseuds/Allusivity
Summary: Shin Ryujin is irremediable, incorregible and somehow incredibly irresistible, while Hwang Yeji was a goody two-shoes, too pure and too lovely to hate. Like oil and water, like hot and cold, like Betty and Veronica, they both seemed to repel each other -- and yet their undenying attraction and chemistry somehow made the sparks happen the moment they were close to each other.But they both stubbornly denied it.
Relationships: Hwang Yeji/Shin Ryujin
Comments: 23
Kudos: 53





	1. The Firestarter

**Author's Note:**

> This is a generic High School drama AU. Yeji, the good girl; Ryujin, the bad girl. This has several tropes and clichés (because this is a self-indulgent fic).

Shin Ryujin didn't precisely mind to be waiting hour and half, but she didn't want to wait more than that if necessary and it seemed that the cheeky Shin Yuna had put her on the spot. The spot being by the parking lot of the Maroon High (Yes, like, Maroon Five but make it a high school), by her lonesome like some weird, stylistic bum -- or better yet, like a gang member reminiscing through the old times. It was the last day of summer, glowing with its purple and orange sunset shades gliding together, creating an otherworldly tint that so overlooked by this exasperated teenager. The fated day was slowly inching, and it would either be the end of all fun for a long time or the beginning of a brand new era full of exciting things. Well, that was all to be seen, Shin Ryujin reckoned.

Surrounded by the nothingness of the parking lot, looking at the school's lights turned on early and left there for god knows how long, Ryujin took a quick sip of her third can of beer which she stole very easily from her mother; she even set some aside for Yuna, but she was considering drinking the rest without her. Rolling up the sleeve of her leather jacket a bit to reveal her watch, she saw her the time and took note of how long has her butt been sitting on the lukewarm pavement. Meanwhile the clock hanging in the middle of the principal's office ticked on and on by itself without stopping. The office empty and ready to be broken into, its secrets at hand for anyone that braved the weight of consequences, the hallways hollow and waiting for human life other than the grotesque janitor, the staircases awaiting for someone to step on them, the gym so dim and vast but dull, and the cafeteria's kitchen awaiting for a brave soldier to enter and uncover its secrets -- as ghastly as they could be. There was a lot to explore, a lot to do, many shadows to unveil with a bit of light.

And that was the plan for these two soon-to-be seniors but Shin Yuna -- may god save her if she ever shows face -- wasn't arriving, and Ryujin could almost feel her shit-eating grin upon her late arrival. You see, two last names that match and two personalities that somehow melt together well, yet two completely different beings and at that moment they could not be different. One was punctual yet rebellious and the other one was chaotic in all its glory. You can guess which one is which, right?

On this end was the cool Shin Ryujin donning her iconic style of Hawaiian shirt, jeans, boots and a jacket fitting of the day. Basically she was the only reason any store sold Hawaiian shirts at this point but let's not go there yet. What you need to know is that Ryujin was a bit of a firecracker. She was the spark the ignited fires, the provocateur of conflicts or change, the fire-starter, basically. And often times that fire was Yuna, but other times the fire was conflict and other people.

I'll put you up to speed:

Shin Ryujin, daughter of the turbulent Shins, but not to be mixed up with Yuna's parents who were very much normal. If we were to believe what the teachers say about her? She's a hopeless rebel that needed correction and corporal punishment, had it been allowed in this modern, public school with progressive ideas that -- quite frankly -- they all hated. If we were to believe what the town folks say then we’d figure she was a troubled young lady that needed discipline but wasn’t far beyond helping. But of course, things are far more complicated that and it’s not so black and white as we see. Certainly, a few of the townsfolk knew her differently and would never agree to the other’s opinion, but it was a side of her that they could not deny. Again, there was a lot to her.

Walking down the school hallways with her hands in her pockets, that cool, subtle shoulder twitch, greeting people with a lift of her chin and a cocky smile, Ryujin caught the attention of a lot of people on her own, and for good reasons sometimes. The popular folks looked at her with a dash of contempt, perhaps a bit of envy, or indifference and with that attitude some others closely followed suit, save for the select few of outsider students that admired Ryujin and her attitude yet never got the full courage to speak to her in public. There were other students with their own little cliques that did not bother, or have even bandied words (and more than words) with Ryujin enough to either detest or understand her.

The general consensus was born out of her prankster ways. At the beginning of each school year she had raised eyebrows with a prank or two on random people -- which sometimes happened to be towards the popular kids. Her most notorious prank was the classic poop in a paper bag prank, but she boldly pulled it off against the very frightening P.E teacher that everyone collectively hates -- except for maybe the jocks. She managed to get the paper bag full of... the gross substance and sneaked into the school building as the teachers gathered in their lounge. She dropped it on front of their closed door, grabbed her matchstick...

Spark!

She glanced at its flames for just a second, looking at her escape route, the fire alarm and checking for witness. With a smirk, she lit the paper bag, activated the alarm and was never witnessed by anyone inside the afternoon. The teaches and prefects looked for culprits but the culprit was very relaxed riding her way home on her skateboard with a victorious smirk to her face. Obviously, the prank worked because the P.E teacher had lashed out on all the students for such a prank. Yeah, he had to put the fire out with his feet, and it was gross, but that was it! Nothing too extreme. However, he felt his rage was justified.

As he always did.

The pudgy old man was red with rage, veins popping with a passion, lashing out at all the students who were sinking into the bleachers to somehow avoid his spit takes. He didn't know who did it, and no one knows who did it, but he was going to double down on the sucker the moment he found out. No questions about it. And doubling down didn’t just mean a scolding, apparently. Ryujin maintained her face neutral, though mildly annoyed at his shouting and the unnecessary saliva going all over the place while others were just shrugging at everything. They were innocent and had clean records for the most part, there was nothing to fear. Then someone raised a hand, looking innocent and gorgeous, and she spoke loud and clear. "Maybe it was one of the drop outs?"

Ryujin looked over and noticed that was the new student (at the time), Shin Yuna. The teacher couldn't say 'No' to the idea, and he hated those crazy bastards more than anyone. Yes, the blame was successfully shifted out of Ryujin, if there ever was a hint of suspicion, but it wasn't even by Ryujin's own hand but rather someone completely strange to her. The way things work, huh? After that class, needless to say they became acquaintances and partners in crime, if you will. This was in Sophomore year and now, teetering into Senior year. Eventually, people put two and two together, but Mr. Choi had already had his revenge on whatever drop out kid he found to be the culprit -- and he was absolutely sure it was him. However, to the students, it was a bit more obvious with the passing time that it was Shin Ryujin who did it, and by a luck Yuna diverted the attention perfectly without consequences.

Ryujin was still 'misguided' and a ‘rebel without saving’, if teachers are to be believed. She was still a prankster, she was still getting in trouble, she still grabbed the detention hours every other day, she was the first grab the exam paper and tear it to shreds after getting her grades and she was still that Hawaiian shirt wearing misfit. Naturally, she grew older and somehow her taste for those shirts never changed and neither did her taste for fucking up the rules.

Back to reality, Ryujin was not being a misfit but rather wishing to at the moment, feeling the need to spring up and jump caressing her fingertips. It was a ghostly whisper, just a suggestion, while Ryujin held on tight. Until she just stood up with the can of beers, shoved them into her messenger bag, put it on and started the very meticulous plan of breaking into the high school building.

Such a complicated plan, you see? So carefully planned. It was hard to pull off.

"Alright, let's fuckin' see," Ryujin said as she slid the buttery smooth slide window open.

Yeah, that was really it. Climbing up to that specific window on the second floor wasn't even hard -- it was like every pipe, every design on the concrete and everything was perfectly placed for a rascal to climb up and break in, and it was at back of the school building where no one would notice. The window has always had its lock broken as far as Ryujin can remember, so she slipped in easily and noticed the freshly cleaned floor. The moment her heavy boot slid on the polished, mirror-like tile, it squeaked and echoed so much it nearly frightened Ryujin out the window. The silence that closely followed soothed the misfit that nothing was alerted and that no one was around. With a sigh that softly echoed as well, Ryujin slipped her way back inside and closed the window, instinctively trying to lock it only to realize her silly mistake.

Now inside the vacant hallways, once full of that vigorous spirit (or, sometimes, a deplorable lack of) from the kids of the past, Shin Ryujin walked down them without the pressure or need to impress, just going through them with an ounce of caution, wary of the paintings of the old headmasters and professors that supposedly stepped into this fine building centuries ago. People who are barely remembered, save for the portraits that now hung on the wall, watching Ryujin as she walked by with disrespect towards them -- they dared her, they warned, but she did not pay any mind. Fishing out one beer, she marched on through the lockers and searched for what she wanted, for an idea, something to gift herself on her birthday.

Yes, her birthday.

But it was a game of chance. Break into a locker and find it empty or nearly empty with nothing worth inside, or open the Pandora box of greatness and personal history that someone left behind. That wasn't likely, however. To spend her birthday walking the empty hallways of a school was oddly similar to what the teachers pictured for her in the future, but she always saw that picture differently.

In a futile attempt to guess what locker was worth breaking into, she knocked with her fist and moved on at the hollow sound of it while she wondered.

Where the hell was Shin Yuna?

Well, it was better that Yuna wasn’t around.

The huge building was vast and ready to replicate any sound but it didn't mean it was empty at all. In fact, Ryujin and the spirits of this school weren't the only things inside of it. Somewhere around the hallways of the first floors stood a group of young men ready to kiss farewell the summer and kickstart the new year with a prank on their own. All handsome, all swollen with pride and muscle, yet dim and full of ill-intentions. An entire classroom broken into, supplies missing and shoved into their letterman jacket's -- with pockets to the brim -- gasoline can in hand and the dangerous match on the other. Curtains doused with liquid would transfer the flames rapidly across the classroom of that putrid Mr. Lee. A silly little beef between teachers, but the petty jocks could not leave the offense behind.

Ryujin, blissfully unaware but annoyed, slid down the set of stairs and hopped off lazily right at the end, her boots giving a soft thud that was unheard and a squeak ignored as the quiet laughter rose by the laboratory. A quiet laugh that echoed and traveled rapidly to Ryujin who could hear more than well. 

And her curiosity was piqued, though a bit late.

She followed the sound and soon could hear the subtle low tone of flames clawing at the fabric and the hurried steps of a gang of misfits -- in between the jaded breath was the soft chuckle of excitement, of power, that Ryujin knew all too well.

She was unfortunately confused, with beer in hand but unable to move on further from the middle of the hallway. It clicked immediately when she saw the culprits making a run for it towards her. Her eyes widened and the sudden shock all over her body sprung her to move.

Meanwhile, Shin Yuna power walked like she always did, because she had too much energy to stay still or walk slowly, and she had her reasons for being late. Reason being an exquisite chocolate cake that her mother had just bought with the depths of her heart. Naturally, one slice was meant to go to the birthday girl Ryujin while the rest was for the family and it was safe to say that Yuna had a big ol' slice. Her sugar levels were unhealthily off the charts but she was young so it was probably fine. The moment she walked out of her house, she found intriguing conversations with the gardener about life's many philosophies, she found a stray cat and gave it a home with someone she knows is allergic to cats and took it upon herself to randomly just attend a protest about Orange Juice not being real.

It took her about two hours to do all of that, which she would've loved to have Ryujin join.

But when she walked to the parking lot and saw nothing, she was utterly confused. For a moment she thought Ryujin ditched on her, but the girl never liked being home at this time -- the sunset being too pretty to ignore and her house being too empty and dull to sit still in. So, she looked around for the prankster through the bushes, kicking and diving in only to come out messier than she was and without any answers. It wasn't until she heard hollering (not from Ryujin, obviously) that she actually dove fully into bushes and let it swallow her comically with legs in the air and dignity on the floor until there was not a trace of Shin Yuna for the moment.

Don't worry, she composed herself enough to sit upright and watch through the leaves like a weirdo. A group of the school jocks -- that were about to be senior students along with Ryujin and herself -- was clearly seen escaping the premises through the double doors that were supposed to be locked. They weren't running like they were ready to go party and have fun, they were running like their adrenaline was peaking, like they have done something wrong. However, in all the excitement Ryujin was nowhere to be seen. The rowdy boys ran and ran and disappeared from the scene without a trace while Yuna was trying to undo the tangles of the bush that kept her caged.

Ryujin finally does come out of the school building through the same doors but a lot slower than normal, not even running, her palm just hovering over her bottom lip and her eyebrows scrunched in a mixture of pain and anger. “Fucking bastards,” she groaned to herself, hissing when she foolishly touched her lower lip.

"Ryujin!" Yuna called out, still halfway into the bushes, getting Ryujin’s attention immediately. “Help me out here?”

Oh, so that's where Yuna decided to be?

Ryujin, who was still not too sure of everything that was happening, dashed over to help, skipping the steps all together and landing just a little off, but no problem. "Yuna, what the fuck are you doing?"

The emphasis on the FUCK made Yuna feel that she was in trouble, but she really wasn't. If anything, she was a relief to look at, but she had no idea what was happening. The moment Ryujin was close to her and her arms were available, she held onto them tightly, fighting the evil tentacles of a plant that literally did nothing wrong but to stay there. "I saw someone running out of the school and I just--."

"Wait, when did YOU arrive?"

"Five seconds ago--," and so Yuna shuts up when she finally looked at Ryujin, whose lip was bruised and torn and no longer covered by her hand. Beyond that she looked fine, but she could not -- in the haste of things -- connect two and two together. That's when she finally stumbled out the swallowing bush. "What happened to your face?!"

"No time for that, we gotta go!"

"What--."

Ryujin grabbed Yuna's hand and yanked her so fast that to this day Yuna's eyes cannot focus properly. I'm joking, but it was a hard yank. It was no problem though, considering Yuna's energy was not even close to depleting, rather intensifying at the sudden enigma that Ryujin would not explain to her. Suddenly, whatever the plan was for the day banished with the wind and the girls were never seen near the school premises.

And unfortunately, the laboratory was scorching as the barely functional alarms finally blared off out of tune, a bit too late to save the blazing items. But the signature of the fire was now pointing at the wrong person, who just so happened to be at the wrong place that afternoon.

Shin Ryujin.


	2. Hwang Yeji, The Good Girl.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here, we meet Hwang Yeji -- or at least, a small bit of her.

Everything was unpacked, and yet Hwang Yeji felt like there was a lot more to unpack. Both physical and emotional, but she was too exhausted for that.  
  


Emotionally and physically.  
  


Sprawled across her cozy, just made bed, Yeji stretched like a lazy cat and pondered how to use her last day of vacation. She figured unpacking would take the whole day, up until dinner and beyond, and she also figured she would shut down immediately after finishing, collapsing into bed without even taking a proper shower or even washing her face. And yet, she was exhausted but not sleepy, bored but not desperately so, hungry but not seeking the cooling pizza slices that belonged to her down in the kitchen (that her father had called her three times for, possibly looking to eat the bits she leaves behind). A fleeting thought had her contemplating her balcony’s locked door, glancing at the tantalizing idea of being a bad girl for once and escaping without her father knowing.  
  


But why? Why not ask him for permission to stroll through town to get acquaintanced with its corners, its streets, the hot spots and the new faces that she would have to get to know eventually anyways?  
  


Well, it was a bit late and the streets were cold, in contrast to the hot afternoon -- which had Yeji and her father sweating like crazy on the long ride to her new home -- and danger could seep through the cracks of the older, beaten paths. The darkness of the more unfavorable zones could, as always, breed the biggest nightmares. Or so Yeji once said to her diary, now buried in the corner of her drawers. The streets and the people were not going anywhere, Yeji could explore them during daylight when the next Saturday comes, besides the next day was the first day of School. In a new school no less. Also, in her Senior year.

  
Well, last year for those who do not know.

  
Believe me, I have problems grasping that as well--.

  
A brand new girl, starting a brand new school, with a different syllabus from France (she assumed at least) and with no friends to lead the way. Frightening and nerve-wracking for sure!

  
But Yeji was a smart, warm girl; hard to hate and even harder to only love halfway. Though, extremes did occur with her, as it always does. Her tender nature combined so effortlessly with her charming smile and her captivating eyes won people over each time and made the others suspicious or at least wary. They know that such looks and charm could kill and to be wary was only natural -- and Yeji had understood this in her time overseas when the long-time residents showed distrust for such a pure nature in a world tainted with the unpredictable. However, her fine manners and her soft spokenness eventually showed itself to be genuine.

  
Her heart’s size was tantamount to her achievements and history. However, being new in this town those stories were just something to tell friends rather than her legacy. None of the townsfolk were there when, back in her temporary home, Yeji bravely dove head on to save as many children as possible during a fire in a kindergarten. None of them would have heard the news of Yeji fully recovering from her burns and none of them were there when she was interviewed for the local news station. A poised, graceful, cheerful and selfless young woman with a heart glazed with golden dust. Aside from that, she was a superb dancer, former spelling bee champion, a good chess player, a gifted writer and aspiring painter.

  
But that last one has become a bit hard to go back to.

  
The especially painted landscapes hanging on the living room wall retained the glory of the old days, the beautiful childhood that was slowly passing, sitting above the trophy and medal shelf -- carefully positioned and nicely cleaned, with all due respect. The signature of the artist in the painting once a firm, bold signature that turned shaky with the years, until it was fully gone.

  
Hwang Narae.

  
After waking up from that brief trance, Hwang Yeji looked at the clock hanging in her wall and counted. She had been day-dreaming and thinking for some extraordinary ten minutes, but not enough to make the remaining time any faster or her appetite grow any fonder of the now-cold pizza. The young girl sat up, looking around her room for any excuse to tidy up the already tidied and clean place. Until the window caught her attention, only slightly open but the curtains all pushed open. The beautiful sunset was gone, leaving behind a purple glow that smoothly introduced the beauty of the dark night sky, but Yeji preferred the sunset in its early stages. With shuffling feet and a lethargic, imprecise hand, she began to close the window and lock it, barely looking outside until a stone hit the wall with a pathetic little ‘Tick!’ that frightened the Jesus out of Yeji.

  
Only then noticing something that should’ve been very obvious, had she bothered to actually look to her surroundings.

  
Her window -- at least this one -- was directly in front of the next door neighbor’s bedroom window. On the second floor and with a sizeable distance, but within reach for the smart who figured a way to make a bridge. Or for the insane that somehow dared to parkour from one window to the other. Right there, in that window was a happy young girl. Big ears with big grin and a dashingly unique, youthful face that looked like it would stay youthful for years. Upon closer inspection (not too frightened anymore), Yeji noted that the girl was gesturing for her to open the window, and her eager smile alone was telling why.

  
Yeji finally opened the window and shyly poked her head out, tentatively even.

  
“You’re the new neighbor?!” Chaeryeong shouted from the top of her lungs, leaning out the window more now with her whole torso out in display.

  
Yeji, a bit afraid to upset the other neighbors, didn’t shout but rather spoke a bit loud. “Yes, me and my father--.”

  
“Huh?!” Chaeryeong said, leaning her ear closer as if that was gonna help catch the lost words. “I can’t hear you.”

  
One thing Yeji knew right of the bat was that this girl had powerful lungs and an equally powerful voice to accompany it. “Yes! I moved in!” Yeji said as loudly as she could, still very worried about upsetting the neighborhood, especially when she heard a distant dog barking and some general ruckus.

  
“Ah, you know what?! I’ll go there! Can I visit?! Isn’t it a bad time?” Chaeryeong shouted somehow even louder.

  
Yeji, just to avoid shouting, shook her head a bit.

  
“Awesome!”

  
Then Chaeryeong shut her window, drew the curtains and all Yeji could see was the shadow of a very happy girl just zooming out of room.

  
It was only then that Yeji realized that she just practically invited a stranger into her house. That was one thing, but she completely disregarded the peace and quiet of her father, who may not be fond of any visitors, especially because there hadn’t been any.

  
Yeji skedaddled out of her room and down the stairs as fast as possible, attempting to warn her dad before she realized that he had just opened the door, greeting that (loud) energetic voice with his soft, polite voice.

  
A bit late, isn’t it?

  
The man, tall and portly, with a dash of gray hair and soulful eyes, looked back at Yeji with confusion. The shape of his eyes was vaguely like hers, if you squint really hard, and she knew that the look on his eyes was completely confusion and a slight bit of worry. Of course, she gave him an apologetic grin and a shrug of her shoulders. Not only did Yeji accept to this so out of nowhere, but quite frankly didn’t know the girl’s name either, let alone if she really lived next door to them.

  
The brown haired girl looked at the two of them and their silent communication before she smiled and spoke. “I’m the next door neighbor’s daughter, Lee Chaeryeong,” she said with enthusiasm, trying to be as polite as possible and holding herself together. “My--I have a sister, I think she came already to leave a batch of my special cookies?”

  
“Cookies?” Yeji asked, still completely lost.

  
Mr. Hwang, however, suddenly understood when he looked at the girl well. That face resembled someone and he knew who it was. “Oh, yes! She came in a hurry and left the cookies.”

  
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” Chaeryeong bowed her head a bit. “She’s been a bit of a busy bee these days. My parents, too.”

  
“It’s alright, no need to worry. I loved those cookies.”

  
“Ah, thank you! It’s my grandma’s recipe, you can never go wrong with them.”

  
In the background was the still lost, still confused Yeji who only then bothered to side step into the kitchen to notice the reason why her father had been so adamant telling Yeji to eat earlier. The pizza box was closed in the counter but next to it was a tall glass of milk and a plate full of cookies, ready for the youngest Hwang to devour. She felt a little bad for not responding to his dinner call now, but -- just like him -- she sported black attire from bottom to top. He must’ve understood the lack of appetite.

  
Yeji finally stepped back into the conversation with a soft smile. “I didn’t know there were cookies.”

  
Mr. Hwang laughed a little, scratching his head. “I thought it would be a nice surprise.”

  
He’s trying, isn’t he?

  
Yeji held herself back.with a soft smile and patted him in the back. “I hope you don’t mind if she comes in?”

  
And Chaeryeong was bouncing in her spot with delight at the idea.

  
How could he say no to such an adorable, friendly girl?

  
“Of course, just make sure she doesn’t get back home late. It’s a far walk,” he said with a playful tone.

  
Some things don’t change, thought Yeji while giving him a look, which made him smile a bit more. It’s been a while seeing that smile. Chaeryeong took a while to understand the joke, but she smiled anyways, especially because for Chaeryeong this meant she was going to get to know her new friend.

  
“Well, I’ll leave you two to it.”

  
Both of the girls nodded and he left the scene, not without nearly bumping against the corner of the table and igniting a few more laughs. Adorably clumsy and a big tall man that somehow has never gotten used to the length of his limbs.

  
“That’s your father, right?”

  
Yeji looked back at Chaeryeong that was still politely standing outside, even thought she looked like she was ready to explode with energy. “Yeah,” Yeji giggled, opening the door more and signalling the girl to come in, which she did, doing the little skips on the way. “I know, I didn’t inherit his height.”

  
“That’s not bad, being really tall must be tough,” Chaeryeong said, looking up and about with marvel. The house was finally used, decorated and she finally knew how it looked inside. “This house had been on safe for a while, it’s about time I had a new neighbor!”

  
With the front door locked and two tall glasses of milk by the coffee table next to the plate overflowing with cookies, the two girls got to know each other. And of course, even Chaeryeong couldn’t help but to grab one of the cookies herself.

  
“Somehow, these cookies got better from my home to yours,” Chaeryeong said with her mouth full.

  
Yeji, despite the indecent display, couldn’t help but to smile at the enthusiasm, swallowing her second cookie. “They’re really lovely, thank you.”

  
Chaeryeong waved her hand once, smiling from ear to ear. “No need to thank me, I was excited for a new neighbor.”

  
“It’s been a while since you had a new neighbor, I reckon?” Yeji tried, her voice still soft and tentative.

  
“Well, it’s been a while since I had someone my age live near me.”

  
Well, that explained a few things.

  
“Your sister is older or younger?” Yeji asked out of curiosity, with no real thought put into it.

  
“Older, she’s in college now,” Chaeryeong shrugged, instinctively going to grab another cookie. With a gesture towards Yeji, she asked if she could really grab another one.

  
With a smile Yeji just waved for her to do so.

  
The conversation moved on swiftly and Yeji learned things from Chaeryeong, implicitly and explicitly. Explicitly spoken, Lee Chaeryeong, has an older sister and busy parents. Implicitly, Chaeryeong was a lonely girl that could use the company. It was evident by the mere excitement of finding someone to speak to, the cheer friendliness and curiosity to know more about Yeji was somehow telling.

  
Moreover, she was quite talkative!

  
In the span of probably twenty minutes and ten cookies, Yeji found out a few things without really prying about it. First, she thought that the neighbor across Yeji’s new house was a pompous man with a vanity made of glass. Secondly, the neighborhood was full of families that were wealthy and well off. A lot of people were leaning closer to the older spectrum, their children too young for Chaeryeong to play with (though, she did babysit them sometimes), and chatting with those people was really boring. Thirdly, her father was a busy Chef and her mother was a business woman like Yeji’s father. In that aspect, Yeji understood Chaeryeong. Fourthly Chaeryeong was a cheerleader. Yeah, you saw that right, all that energy did not go to waste! However, during Summer time, with no real outlet for that energy, someone like Yeji was the person to see her full dynamism in its golden glory.

  
And usually, Yeji would be that energetic, but…

  
“And you?”

  
Yeji, who was just about to sip her glass of milk, paused to ask. “What?”

  
“What about you?”

  
“What about me?” Yeji asked rather innocently.

  
Chaeryeong gave her a look with a small smile. “Tell me about you! I made the entire conversation about me.”

  
Yeji shrugged, not very enthusiastic about sharing about herself, not knowing what to say even. What was there to tell? Would it make her look self-centered? She absolutely did not want that, so it kept her stuck on not knowing what to say. It has always been a problem for her. Yeji didn’t know how to proudly express who she was, especially now.

  
And it seemed that Chaeryeong (whose excitement hasn’t died down) caught on immediately. “Tell me, what do you do?”

  
With confused eyes, Yeji glanced at Chaeryeong. Just to avoid the awkward silence, she said whatever came to mind. “I--I, well. I’m very artistic, I suppose?”

  
“Really? Do you dance?”

  
Now, the shyness crawled and grabbed at Yeji’s ankles, threatening to overtake her. “Kinda?”

  
“Aw, that’s so cool! You could be a part of cheerleading,” Chaeryeong said.

  
And somehow, Yeji felt it was a double-entendre. Was it really for her apparent skills? Or was it just to have a new friend?

  
“I highly doubt it,” Yeji smiled politely, shaking her head. “I don’t feel too cheerful for now.”

  
Chaeryeong looked at her strangely, tilting her head. However, smartly, she opted not to ask why. This kid was excited, but she knew some tact, which relieved Yeji a bit.

  
Though Yeji did wonder if she would have to tell her eventually, or if Chaeryeong would go for the rest of senior year without asking.

  
Instead, Chaeryeong went in for the sixth cookie. “Either way, I can always vouch for you if you want. Or if you want to get in the basketball team, too. Or the wrestling team. Or the football team--.”

  
“Do I look like I can do wrestling?” Yeji interrupted while suddenly laughing.

  
That made Chaeryeong smile. “Hey, it’s High School! Everything can happen.”

  
Yeah, that’s true. It was High School! A new school at that, in which everything could happen. The prospect suddenly seemed to glow with opportunities, the new chapter of her history book blooming with beautiful words before her eyes as she thought to herself the opening words of this chapter of her life.

  
“After death came my life, as I know it now, as I knew it then, as I will know it.  
My golden heart recovered from the blows of life and it began to beat again in my senior year. Where everything would change.”

  
And Hwang Yeji didn’t know the truthness in those unspoken words at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did y'all like it?


	3. School Spirit, I guess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And finally, the first day of school happens.
> 
> It turns out to be a long one.

‘Absolute rubbish’ was the way to describe Mr. Lee’s classroom. It was also what he said when he was told that his classroom as -- effectively, certainly, indubitably -- out of order for an undefined (unholy, even) amount of time. Surely, Mr. Lee Taemin didn’t believe so until he stepped into the room to be engulfed in the off-putting smell of fire, uncharacteristic of his classroom. Brittle, burnt paper and documents scattered across the ground while the curtains were, in effect, gone. The entire room was standing, but what was within it once was heavily morphed by the flames of the devil himself!

  
It was just the off chance that the fire alarm finally kicked into function and sprinkled, albeit late, the water that would save the very little things that were left in the classroom. The sunrise coming through the window was a glowing light from the heaven that this time seemed to mock Mr. Lee and whoever else was besides him.

  
The rage came soon and the search for a culprit began. The eccentric chemistry teacher, usually very amiable and concentrated was now sporadic with a sense of complete loss. However, he didn’t wish for a culprit as much as he wished for retribution, to understand what happened.

  
The Headmaster, principal, big daddy (or whatever you kids call it) of the school was prim and proper, careful with his words, but he made it his business to hold an assembly at the theater for the newcomers and to warn those who even thought about committing this ‘prank’, though he uses that word very loosely. It was really loose, flimsy -- flimsier than his actual respect for Mr. Lee, in fact, but this is not about Teachers drama.

  
Though, that would be a compelling story.

  
Mr. Lee thanked the headmaster, but beneath that facade laid the careless principal and he knew so. He knew this would go unpunished, especially if it involved someone that was on the master’s good graces. Upon second thought, after the man left, he understood -- perhaps a bit late -- that the only reason he will speak about this at the assembly is to have an excuse to continue yapping in front of the entire school.

  
As he tends to do.

  
So, Maroon High opened its doors with spirits oozing from the building’s pores -- well, the cracks. The Purple and Gold (Yellow, some insist) banners decorated the pillars by the entrance and the bulletin board was decorated to perfection. Simple but smashing, informative but not too boring. The lockers all recently cleaned, recently repaired and the students soon pouring into the parking lot from their parents car, the buses, the bushes and the streets. The slowly gathering mass of teenagers slowly walked in the school, not with too much enthusiasm for studies but rather an enthusiasm for the new adventures the school would bring.

  
The earliest of birds arrived fresh, pristine and ready to take over the world. Amongst those was Choi Jisu.

  
Well, Julia, as she liked to be called. The Queen from Canada, although she was born locally and then located to Canada for a long time before moving back, but whatever. She was a good chunk of things, but friendly was not really one of them. Or at least, that was a trait that was the hardest to see.

  
Popular, gorgeous and perhaps a dash bit wacky if she felt she could trust you. Her popularity rises not from her wealth but from her legacy. Choi Junsu was the star quarterback that graduated three years ago, counting from this very morning. A handsome young face with an incredible personality. Of course, Jisu had to step up to the plate eventually and, instead, became the star and face of the cheerleading squad which had yielded… results. By results I mean a good percentage of the student body either feared her or loved her, and the in-between was never accounted for. It wasn’t accidental that she was given royalty status by mere association either, as it was kind of an unspoken tradition. So, her strong character and personality was…

  
It was necessary, to put it one way.

  
Noted, and respected, though the tender hearted folks found it hard to understand the dimension of everything. Jisu herself didn’t understand the dimensions of things so she concentrated on what she knew for that fact. Cheering for the football team, unconsciously cheering for the team her brother worked hard to cultivate for years, was her big thing. Being an absolute fashion icon was another, and being popular was just a consequence.

  
She preferred these consequences. Popularity by positive association, because if she were to be at all like Ryujin, she would not be able to stand it.

  
Grouped with her friends, ready to gossip and unable to sit still, the clique went inside the school doors, respectfully waving and greeting at the principal but duly noting that subtle grimace on his face which he dared to call a smile sometimes. Bringing in the youth of tomorrow into the school grounds, keeping an eye on the hoodlums he wished to spell sometimes, and being extra friendly to the sports team that complimented the old man for his ‘imposing aura’.

  
Yeah, their words not mine. I’m just the messenger.

  
The seniors showed the energy that the freshmen should have, setting the bar for school spirits really high, but instead the freshmen entered the school grounds with tentative steps and trembling hands, timidly looking to the ground and avoiding to meet face to face with the leader of the gremlins.

  
The only senior with that same demeanor was Hwang Yeji, sporting a yellow sundress and a high ponytail that would soon become her staple. She was looking like the quintessential good girl, new girl, girl next door, girl under the door -- or whatever. A book or two pressed against her front timidly while her backpack clung to her back, her brown hair flowing gorgeously and her enchanting, sharp and cat-like eyes shyly looked around at the building, curious at the school’s design, the emblem and the colors. To Yeji’s surprise, the colors of Maroon High was not Maroon. Yes, you would think it would be that way, but no.

  
What would you expect of a school that has chosen a moron for a Headmaster? His identity does not even matter to some, thus his name will remain as The Principal, for our convenience.

  
Instead of coming inside like the rest of the students that had just parked their bicycles, mopeds, said farewell to their parents for the day and gotten off the bus, Yeji stood outside like a lost puppy. She didn’t really want to go into the school building on her lonesome, not when she felt like the boisterous and chatty crowd would soon judge her for not having a chaperone to show her the laws of the jungle. The new faces that stared at her with curiosity were all kinds of faces: friendly looking faces that smiled at her, faces that glanced and moved on without thinking much of it, and the faces that looked very young and confused, yet intrigued at her looks.

  
It’s always the eyes, Yeji thought.

  
Yeji waited, patiently and politely, with all respect, for Chaeryeong to appear and drag her into the school building like she knew she would. However, while waiting for the cheerleader, she took note of the students that were standing outside, chatting and catching up. She took note of those who had just gotten to the parking lot, those who were struggling to lock their bicycles in place, those who came in skateboarding and showing off the tricks they learned over the summer...

  
And… that girl, who came in with a black bomber jacket, a blue hawaiian shirt and a hangover written all over her face. It was a captivating sight to behold, too powerful to ignore. Too intriguing not to explore.

  
Yup, ladies and gentlemen that was our Shin Ryujin.

  
Listen, starting the new year with a hangover was quintessential Ryujin as much as it was to start it with a prank under her sleeves. The seemingly permanent scowl stitched on her face warned that she was not to be messed with, especially today of all days.

  
The girl walked with attitude, but rather an annoyed one than her usual chill one. When she walked in with hands stuffed into her pockets, people stopped to stare at the black sheep of Maroon High -- though she was not the blackest of all sheeps -- and wondered if she was up to no good today, or if her annoyance was far beyond a hangover that stretched its tentacles across her entire body with soreness. Maybe a failed prank this year? Maybe nothing could come out of Ryujin’s mischievously creative brain?

  
Or maybe, just maybe…

  
Yeji watched in trance as Ryujin walked in, a slight cool shoulder twitch but her eyes never meeting anyone's. Her confidence took a backseat while fatigue took the wheel and it was visible to everyone.

  
And you know what?

  
Yeji hated the way this girl was already. Something didn’t feel right, like her alarms were tempted to go off but did not.

  
And somehow--.

  
“Yah, Hwang Yeji!”

  
That yanked the distracted Yeji to the cheerful, bouncy voice that suddenly was skipping towards her, her backpack threatening to bounce off her shoulders if she kept that energy.

  
Lee Chaeryeong, not to be confused by Lee Chaeyeon, whose face is virtually the same but different. You know what I mean.

  
“Ah, there you are,” Yeji said mostly to herself.

  
“I’m sorry, I woke up late!” Chaeryeong apologized immediately, wasting even less time with any pleasantries before she linked arms with Yeji and dragged her inside the school building.

  
As it was predicted.

  
The real life of the school was in the crowded hallways and the lost students that looked at the bulletin board for some sort of salvation. Yeji, dragged by the chaperone Chaeryeong, couldn’t even stop to read the bulletin. “There’s never anything useful there,” assured Chaeryeong, noting how it’s only useful for the freshmen while the new sophomores, juniors and seniors are left to fend for themselves.

  
“But you’re lucky to have your own Chaeryeong!” Said the cheerful cheerleader.

  
Yeji, despite smiling wide and giggling along, still felt that nervousness sizzling. Mostly, because with Chaeryeong’s mannerism and loudness attracted more eyes glancing their way.

  
However, said glances were interrupted by the screeching intercom that grated everyone’s ears. Soon, the voice of the gremlin leader (a voice that we will all learn to hate) bounced off the walls with an important message.

  
The message was garishly decorated with redundancies, polite words, lengthy speeches and encompassed with a nearly universal eye roll at the blabber about ‘School Spirits’. It’s okay, I’ll give you the condensed version because I like you and I don’t want you to suffer.

  
The new year was starting with a new array of teachers, the return of the old secretary and the return of the once-pregnant literature teacher. And of course, there was a lot more things to be announced. The welcoming assembly was going to be held in the theater in ten minutes, and so the headmaster expected them to be in order and on time.

  
However, while the screeching cacophony of annoying voices kept going and going after the announcement, the hallways started to continue moving, ignoring the ‘indications’ and messages.

  
“Why not just say all of this during the assembly?” Yeji chimed in, lowly, as if the intercom could listen to her, afraid to upset anyone.

  
Chaeryeong shrugged, shaking her head. “He likes to hear himself talk.”

  
“He does that a lot?”

  
Again, Chaeryeong shrugged. “I just pray his wife is deaf. Or that he doesn’t have one.”

  
The screeching noises were inescapable for Ryujin, who was holding her head tight in the school’s bathroom, looking at herself in the cracked mirror of the ladies’ room. It’s been cracked as long as she can remember, fragmented, unsure, and Yuna has always noted that it was because of the vanity of some of the girls. In those unspoken words Yuna was speaking of Lia -- Julia, the Queen of Canada -- and the rest of the Cheerleader squad.

  
Despite hiding in the bathroom for the time being, alone with only the reflection of herself, the ghastly presence of the headmaster’s voice followed her. Oh, she could hear it in her dreams. There was only one voice that could remedy this situation. That voice was--.

  
“Shin Ryujin, put your hands up!”

  
Shin Yuna, of course, who came into the bathroom kicking the door open. She came in with finger guns ready and ready to blast away the imaginary enemies.

  
Ryujin was only slightly amused. “You followed me?”

  
Yuna wasn’t hungover, evidently. This girl has never had a sugar drop in her life, let alone a hangover. She was like a long-legged alien that refused to succumb to normal human ordeals. “Kinda! I was calling you but the headmaster started to speak.”

  
“What is he even talking about?” Ryujin asked, leaning against the concrete sinks.

  
Soon, the ash-blonde girl sat up on the sinks next to her, humming. “From what I can tell, assembly.”

  
“As usual.”

  
“And he has some announcements.”

  
Ryujin looked at Yuna, who didn’t seem at all bothered. “About?”

  
“I suppose we’ll find out soon,” Yuna crossed her arms over her chest. “I tuned out after he didn’t stop talking--. Maybe it’s about his new hairdo!”

  
Something wasn’t sitting right with Ryujin, her arms crossed and her brows knitted in thought while the headache seemed to make way for some thoughts. “What if it’s about the fire? They must have found out by now.”

  
“They must have seen it, but I don’t think they’ll find out who did it.”

  
“Do you think they’ll ignore the issue?” Ryujin asked lower now, leaning closer and looking around just in case.

  
Yuna followed, speaking lower. “It’s Mr. Lee’s classroom, you know they don’t care about him.”

  
Ryujin shook her head. “You know how they are, Yuna.”

  
But you guys don’t know, so I’ll explain.

Succinctly: the adults in charge of these teenagers were the worst kind of people. Self-centered, egoistic, wretched cur. Imbeciles, all of them, except for one or two. The slightly longer version was this: they were obstinate towards their students, uncaring to the youth of tomorrow and to their deficiencies. Even more insulting was their lack of sympathy. Having a rich mixture of students in their school somehow has made them more sour over the years, treating them equally but -- paradoxically, and quite stupidly -- unequal. The doe-eyed student struggling with maths would be easily mistreated by the math teacher who happened to dislike blondes due to a failed love in their youth and the headmaster would not bat an eye; the young man suffering through the mourning process of a deceased loved one would be bombarded with pressure from a teacher that was never allowed to mourn in peace and was ridiculed in the past for it. I could go on.

  
Respect, unity and courage were the praised traits of the school and ironically none of their teachers had that.

  
If you sucked up to the teachers and staff enough you would see a total difference in the way they treat you, especially in the way they grade you. If you had a good family history, it was easier. If you didn’t, you’d be a bit in trouble.

  
High school, am I right?

  
So, Ryujin understood better than anyone that this would fall on the little guys -- people she knew and respected, those who didn’t have anything to do with it, in favor of the future athletes and the scum dressed in fine shoes.

  
“I mean, they’re a little dumb, ain’t they?” Yuna countered.

  
Which was a fair point, acknowledging how inept they were at times.

  
“Yeah, but they’re not stupid,” Ryujin replied lowly, not quite thinking it through.

  
And she also had a point. They were conveniently stupid.

  
Yuna squinted, looking at the blue haired girl. “I thought dumb was the definition of stupid.”

  
“You mean synonym.”

  
Yuna raised her hands defensively. “Oh, you’re gonna school me now--.”

  
“Ah, whatever,” Ryujin waved away the silly dispute. “What I mean is that they--.”

  
Then the intercom screeched again, this time letting the silence govern the halls again. The man was done talking, and so the shuffling feet outside started to move towards the theater.

  
Without anymore words but knowing looks, Ryujin and Yuna washed up a bit and headed towards the theater, melting into the crowd of busy-bodies that couldn’t hold their chatter for later. Faces, new and old, were getting to know one another as they filtered through to their seats. Standing on the stage were the teachers that would have to stay up for the duration of the speech, much to their dismay, and some of them already looked thrilled to be there.

  
By thrilled I mean not really.

  
The two Shins sat next to one another like the inseparable duo they were, very far away from the stage and very close to the exit. Jisu (You know, Julia, Lia, iconic as hell) sat amongst the cheerleader squad number one, while the cheerlader squad number two eagerly motioned Chaeryeong to sit with them. And of course, because Chaeryeong is a sunshine, she dragged the timid Yeji with her.

  
And of course, she was introduced exotically. Hwang Yeji, the girl who studied in France and was now back to her hometown. Hwang Yeji, the girl with the cat-like eyes that will charm the nation. Hwang Yeji -- Yes, THE Hwang Yeji -- that looked stunning yet simple.

  
Somehow, Chaeryeong was better at introducing Hwang Yeji than Yeji was.

  
Soon, the headmaster entered the stage and the chatter was slowly dying, much like the enthusiasm and the smiles. He had that effect on people, it seemed. It surprised Yeji a good bunch to look around and suddenly see people ready to fall asleep when they were so eager before. However, she kept quiet and listened just like them.

  
And boy, did this man love to talk.

  
It wasn’t a joke when Chaeryeong said he liked to hear himself talk. It was a long speech of nothing, and the teachers forced to stand behind the principal as he spoke seemed to think so as well, one of them checking their watch for the time. One of them, however, looked a lot more troubled than the rest. Amongst the old, grizzled teachers, was a few young ones. The aforementioned literature teacher that had just given birth and the dashing, amicable chemistry teacher that somehow looked like he was disappointed. Hurt.

  
Ryujin couldn’t see it, but Yuna noted his posture and his overall quietness. Lia (THE Julia), who was seated amongst the gossiping cheerleaders and the very content jocks knew before anyone else in the room and she was a bit surprised. Yeji couldn’t even ask Chaeryeong about it but even if she did, Chaeryeong didn’t know.

  
“And now, I want to address a situation,” said the boring principal.

  
Somehow, everyone perked up in their seats, suddenly paying attention to the obvious change in tone. He went from high and mighty to a more serious tone that was quintessential for reproaches.

  
He squared his shoulders, grateful for the attention and his thunderous (yet annoying) voice spoke loud and clear. “It has come to our attention that Mr. Lee’s chemistry lab has suffered some severe damages,” he paused, looking around at the students who were asking one another about that.

  
“Ah fuck,” Ryujin cursed under her breath, sinking into her seat ever so slightly.

  
The Principal continued despite the sudden chatter. “It seems a fire started in the laboratory yesterday. The burns are severe and the entire classroom is up for renovations and repairs. Meanwhile, we ask you to be patient with the temporary laboratory we have for Mr. Lee, which could be subject to change at any moment.”

  
Yeji looked at Chaeryeong, who was a bit confused, looking around the theater as if to look for someone.

  
“We are looking into the matter, but for now we have not seen anything pointing towards anyone.”

  
Ryujin sunk further in and Lia noticed the jocks were ecstatic.

  
“I will like to say something, however. Whoever the culprit is will be met with a serious reprimand. I do not take matters like this lightly. Whoever was responsible for this will be dealt with. This ‘prank’ has gone too far, and I will not let it go further.”

  
Yuna looked at Ryujin and understood that her headache had grown on levels she couldn’t fathom judging by the look on her face and the way she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

  
The signature of the scene was written in fire, but rather than reading the signature, it seemed the Principal had his eyes set on someone to blame. The fire was the only evidence, and Ryujin had always liked to play with fire. The discreet eyes of the public seemed to weigh heavier on the already upset teenager, the gossip suddenly becoming all about this incident and

  
With a sigh, Yuna melted to her chair as well. “I need a drink.”

  
And Ryujin needed a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to comment if you think Choi Jisu is iconic.


	4. The Cafeteria War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of school is wild in Maroon High.

Suddenly, the burnt laboratory became the center of attention, like some artistic tourist attraction -- a statement in the power of flames and the fragility of material means. Or, well, just a trashed room that people felt compelled to look at. The door was locked and jammed, but the small window on it let anyone look at the state of it. Even the sill and corners of the windows had that distinctive burnt look, the curtains swallowed by the flames. Somehow, it was fascinating to look at.  
  


To Lee Chaeryeong and Hwang Yeji, it was mildly amusing. Though, to Yeji, this wasn’t the first time looking at something burnt to a crisp. It certainly is the first time she experienced not being involved in it, as opposed to last time. Despite it being strangely fascinating, Yeji didn’t find the sight so intriguing to huddle around the door to see it. Tactfully, she retreated and grabbed Chaeryeong with her.  
  


Choi Jisu certainly found it ghastly to look at, frowning at the damage and at the comments from her friends. After all, Jisu (THE Julia) never understood the hatred towards Mr. Lee and she could never understand the appraised Coach, who hated the Chemistry teacher. Which was the direct cause of this off-tune prank. This was petty, even to her who was hormonally petty sometimes, but she never surpassed the levels of stupidity that some of the men in the school. Junsu himself was that kind of athlete sometimes, overly petty and vengeful, but when he was around the football team wasn’t so barbaric and they seemed to have gotten worse. She moved on from the room and wondered what was the next off-tune prank.

  
Shin Ryujin certainly felt like this was an off-tune prank herself, and she didn’t need to be fully sober to know that. She knew of pranks, she knew she could go far sometimes, but she drew the line in complete destruction of property. School property was a gray line she drew herself, because she hated this school to guts, but to this magnitude was… unnecessary.

  
Let’s not forget dangerous, should they pin this incident on the wrong person. But the less she thought about it, the better.

  
Despite the cloudy mind and the zombie-like body, Ryujin was aware and functioning, but probably more annoyed than normal. Well, that was until Lunch rolled in.

  
The sober one of the Shins, Yuna, knew exactly what to do. The antidote for Ryujin’s hangover was nothing but a hearty meal full of proteins and perhaps some grease. Or maybe no proteins but whatever. For this, Yuna gave a big smile and a big wink to the lunch lady who was serving her food. With a knowing look and a small smile, the lady waved Yuna away with a gesture that reassured her that Ryujin would get the big bits of food, the special chocolate milk and an extra apple to quench the misfit’s thirst for a good, bright apple.

  
It worked, as it always does. Ryujin had devoured her meal, leaving nothing in the tray but the crumbs and the essence of what was once there, accompanied by the two eaten apples. Happily slurping the chocolate milk, while Yuna was still halfway with her meal, Ryujin finally smiled.

  
“Feeling better already?” Yuna asked with her mouthful.

  
Ryujin nodded, pulling away from her drink with a satisfied sigh. “Yeah. The headache is still there but, I feel less…”

  
“Dead?”

  
“Yeah,” Ryujin giggled. “I think my brain is back to normal.”

  
“I still feel like mine hasn’t come back to normal.”

  
“I feel like yours hasn’t come back at all,” Ryujin mumbled playfully, acting dumb as if she never said that.

  
Yuna’s dignified look was poised and innocent, but the kick to Ryujin’s shin was vile.

  
“Ow!”

  
“You caused it,” Yuna shrugged.

  
Ryujin pouted and looked away, feigning feeling upset until she noticed two people by the cafeteria’s door. She recognized one of them. Lee Chaeryeong, that cheerleader that even the popular girls dislike to some extent. A silly division between Team Lia and Team Chaeryeong, apparently. It was strange considering they were all a cheerleading team divided into two teams, as if that wasn’t stupid, but that was just implicit rather than a thing.

  
However, what piqued Ryujin’s interest was the girl beside her. Sunflower dress that looked so chic and pure, an equally chic ponytail and sharp eyes that were captivating to look at -- even at a distance. Fine posture, fine manners and very attention grabbing without having to do anything.

  
And it wasn’t a lie, either. All it took was to look around a little to notice that some people were also intrigued by this new girl. She looked too mature and poised to be a freshman and yet held that trademark nervous stance and glance that didn’t scream ‘I’m in my Senior Year’ to anyone.

  
Yuna, too distracted with her meal to notice, just commented. “You know, I should’ve made you play Moogoo Monkey before I gave you food, now that I think about it.”

  
Ryujin ignored the comment, watching the two girls walk towards the small line for lunch before she turned her attention back to her friend. “Who’s the new girl?”

  
Huh? Yuna looked up with confusion. “Who?”

  
“The new girl.”

  
Yuna squinted, shaking her head. “I don’t know?”

  
And that seemed to surprise Ryujin a bit. “How? You know everything.”

  
“Not this,” Yuna snorted before going back to her food.

  
Ryujin looked backwards again, hoping to find the girl, but instead was met with a sea of people eagerly chatting and discussing. Yet, no sign of her. Ryujin’s soft headache stopped her from looking further and forced to drink her chocolate milk and to stay put.

  
The small line of trays soon disappeared and spread across the cafeteria. With them was the dynamic duo, finding a private seat somewhere in the corner with just the two of them, sitting across from each other.

  
“So, I think after school I should give you a quick detour,” Chaeryeong said.

  
Yeji, who was quietly eating with elbows out of the table, nodded and waited to speak. She swallowed first and spoke softly to not disrupt the conversation of the rest of the cafeteria. “I think I would like that.”

  
“Hmm!” Chaeryeong began, stopping Yeji from speaking further. “I even have a secret spot for you to see, but don’t tell anyone, okay?”

  
Yeji giggled. “Ah, I don’t tell secrets.”

  
Chaeryeong looked around before she leaned closer. “Then, I can tell you anything?”

  
Yeji nodded, grabbing her apple.

  
“Then, I can tell you what I think about the fire?”

  
Shrug.

  
“Good!” Chaeryeong pushed her nearly empty tray away, more enticed by the conversation than her food. “I think I might know who did it.”

  
Yeji squinted. “Who?”

  
“There’s this girl Ryujin, you know, the one with the hawaiian shirt?”

  
“Oh, that girl,” Yeji said suddenly, her eyebrows knitted in sudden disapproval. “I’ve seen her.”

  
Chaeryeong shook her head. “She’s not so bad, but she does have a tendency to do a prank to open the year, each time.”

  
“Pranks?” Yeji didn’t like the sound of that. “What kind of pranks.”

  
“You know, pranks,” Chaeryeong shrugged. “The kind of farty cushion pranks sometimes, but one time she managed to hoist up one of the wrestler’s underwear as a flag once.”

  
Hwang Yeji, you came to one crazy school. “That’s… creative,” to say the least. Yeji bit into her apple and wondered if she would be subjected to some humiliation herself.

  
“I think she was also responsible for another prank involving Coach Choi -- he’s our coach still, by the way. What happened was that someone entered the school right after classes, just when no one was in the hallways and grabbed a bag--.”

  
Chaeryeong’s abrupt stop made Yeji raise her eyebrows.

  
“A bag of what?”

  
“A bag of… doodoo.”

  
The apple from Yeji’s hand dropped, she swallowed forcefully and she pushed her tray away. “Gross.”

  
“Yes I’m sorry, but she -- or, well, someone, we never really found out -- put it in front of the teacher’s lounge and set it on fire.”

  
“On… fire?”

  
“Yes, they pulled the alarm which made Coach Choi walk out of the teacher’s lounge. He saw the fire, he put it out with his feet and then realized his brand new sport shoes were covered in poop!”

  
Despite the grossness of the statement, Yeji couldn’t help but to feel that -- deep down inside -- it was a little funny, but she kept her face as neutral as possible. “Oh, dear.”

  
Chaeryeong shuddered at the thought, shaking her head. “Gross, gross.”

  
“Yes, it is, but at least it wasn’t… dangerous I think,” Yeji reasoned, and she had a point.

  
“That’s what bothers me,” Chaeryeong said, back on topic. “This one is too far, so I can’t shake the feeling that she may have had something to do with it. But Ryujin was never the type to go too far either.”

  
“What makes you think she wouldn’t? After all, the bag prank could’ve been hers.”

  
“Well, for one, she doesn’t hate Mr. Lee at all,” Chaeryeong raised her hands and shrugged. “She doesn’t like many teachers, Mr. Lee is one of those she likes. Secondly, the entire school reached the common consensus that it must’ve been one of the dropouts that did it, because it wasn’t the only prank they’ve done.”

  
The dropouts, by the way, were the kids that were expelled or dropped out of the school before graduating. One or two of them were actually graduated, but they never reached far even after college, meandering around the streets and getting into all sorts of trouble. It’s been noted that a lot of these people live in the poorer side of town, which makes it dangerous to go to. The younger dropouts like to fuck with the student body of Maroon High, for some reason.

  
But Yeji didn’t ask about them. “So, you think this is a dropout’s prank again?”

  
Chaeryeong didn’t respond. Instead, she furrowed her eyebrows and looked somewhere behind Yeji.

  
When Yeji finally turned around, she saw what she knew was going to become a mess.

  
Choi Jisu (Yes, in fact, THE Choi Jisu) didn’t feel so good, stabbing the food on her tray while her squad talked about the latest gossip. No appetite suddenly, not even craving that good, nutritious apple. Amongst the list of gossips were the banal and trite reproaches and occurrences, stuff that Jisu has seen and heard before. Someone hooked up with another someone during summer, cheating on someone with someone, someone went overseas for vacation and did something. It was all ‘blah blah’ on Jisu’s ears, because no one was touching upon the actual gossip of the year.

  
The fire.

  
Seriously, it shouldn’t be this important for the students, because no one was hurt.

  
But…

  
The lingering question was too intriguing to ignore, almost too obvious, that it was the topic of conversation before the assembly. Jisu’s squad commented one or two things about it:

  
“It must be Ryujin.”

  
“Nah, I think it was Yuna. I always think that bitch is crazy.”

  
“What if it was the dropouts?”

  
And somehow, everyone believed themselves when they spoke. Jisu said it aloud to herself, but didn’t feel her heart was on it. It must’ve been wrong, then. As strange as that sounded. Her intuition didn’t let it rest either, making her wonder, making her question.

  
Amongst her friends, she spoke out. “I don’t think it was any of them.”

  
Silence.

  
Then they moved from the topic, because to disagree with Jisu was a bad idea and Jisu kind of hoped someone would have disagreed. They didn’t, and so the topic moved on for a bit until a small group of the footballers sat next to them in the assembly and told them who did it. It was the captain of the team -- the very guy who had the gall to try and hit on Jisu when he broke up with his girlfriend of three years, Nam Taewoon -- and his two best friends.

  
And somehow, they were meaning to celebrate this little revenge they took on Mr. Lee, on the behalf of a very sour Coach Choi. So, suddenly, everything started to make a little sense. Jisu wouldn’t even be surprised if the man put the notion in their heads because he is literally a man-child.

  
They shared last names but luckily only shared that. Completely different personalities but both had strong characters that were never well mixed, especially because Coach Choi always found ‘cheerleaders’ useless and pompous. The coach in charge of the cheerleading team (Coach Kim, bless her entire soul in the best way possible), always ignored the man’s ludicrous rhetoric and focused on teaching and motivating the girls, taking her passion for Cheerleading seriously, as they cheered for both the Football team and the Basketball Team.

  
So, Mr. Choi was a perpetually angry individual who protected the football team far too much to be normal, and Jisu didn’t like it. This meant the boys could get away with a lot of things, despite being too stupid to pull it off sometimes.

  
When none of the girls said anything about the issue, Jisu felt her entire heart depleting. It’s been far too long since the girls just ignore the shitty things the football team does.

  
Today wasn’t any different, especially when Taewoon and his little squad entered the cafeteria kicking the doors open and stomping their way towards the very hungover, very tranquil Ryujin.

  
“What--.”

  
One of the girls said, and Jisu had to stand up immediately, especially when they grabbed Ryujin by the collar and a good chunk of the cafeteria stood up without knowing what was happening.

  
Ryujin was too confused to understand what was happening, until her bleary gaze focused well on the usually cool and composed face of Nam Taewoon, now twisted with feigned rage.

  
“The fuck is up with you, man?!” She shouted, pushing the football team’s captain away, soon noticing that her other misfit friends have gotten away from their tables and have come to the rescue. Yuna herself had butted right in front of Taewoon, soon becoming a protective wall to her dizzy Ryujin, while around her the crowd gathered.

  
Too much shouting, too many insults thrown about, and accusations flying left and right. The jocks were getting a bit violent out of nowhere, the basketball team -- as chill as they always were -- stepping in between the sizzling fight before it exploded while Ryujin’s fellow misfits (of all kinds) stepped up to the plate with fist clenched, apples half eaten in hand, bowls and trays at the ready.

  
“Uhh, is that normal?” Yeji asked in awe, a tiny bit frightened.

  
It’s not that her last school didn’t have this, but it was that the headmaster had spoken so well of this place to her father that this was quite… amusing, to say the least.

  
“It’s not,” Chaeryeong said, suddenly standing up and walking towards the mess.

  
“No, don’t!” Yeji warned but was ignored. And so she foolishly stood up as well and tried to catch up with the long strides from Chaeryeong.

  
She didn’t catch up, and inevitably ended up getting closer to the mess.

  
Then, somehow, out of nowhere, everyone was turning around to see her and she hadn’t understood why.

  
Until she saw that apple going full speed ahead to her nose.

  
Spaghetti flew everywhere, shouting and rough-housing threatened to truly break Ryujin’s eardrums. Someone had thrown an empty tray like a frisbee while others used it as a shield for the incoming projectiles of apples, milk cartons, and god knows what else.

  
A food fight had broken down in the midst of the confrontation and all Ryujin could truly envision was the absolute beast of a punch she managed to give that cocksure bastard. The next thing she knew, someone had thrown an apple to a girl who received it square on the nose -- a misaimed apple at that, because it was meant to hit Ryujin, but Ryujin had just moved out of the way. Somehow, for some goddamn reason, at the same time, Choi Jisu (with her whooping height of literally zilch next to tall and stout athletes) decided to try and keep the peace of the crew she usually supported and encouraged. Then, somehow, she had received a shove that made the athletes angry and made the misfits even angrier. Then, somehow, somehow, somehow, Chaeryeong got a full bowl of nice spaghetti to her hair which caused her to lose her marbles and grab someone else’s spaghetti to throw it to whoever did that.

  
Then the true chaos started: it escalated unnecessarily and then one by one people fell for the temptations of throwing food like dominoes. In the midst of the mess Ryujin gave away her strong fist for free to another idiot and knocked him out quite cold, but the rest of the boys were going at it -- hammer and tongs. Yuna herself had to give away a few punches and a headbutt, enjoying the sudden adrenaline spike. But Ryujin had other plans. Her head didn’t feel like fighting, nor head butting, so she slipped out of the crowd to compose herself and to stay away from trouble. Possibly to faint somewhere, or take a long nap.

  
Until she noticed sunflower dress girl, just getting up the floor, holding her nose in pain. “Oh shit,” Ryujin mumbled and dashed over to help, grabbing the girl by her arms. “Are you okay?”

  
Though the question went unheard by the sudden hollering and the exclamations for the fight that had broken out. Someone yelling “GET HER JADE!” even though no one in this school was named Jade, another person yelling “HEY, THESE WERE BRAND NEW PANTS!” and other shenanigans.

  
Despite that, after the buzzing in Yeji’s ear stopped, she could hear Ryujin cooing her to get up.

  
“I hope my nose is not broken,” Yeji said softly, still holding her nose as she stood up with the help of those strong arms that she couldn’t recognize at first. “Oh my god, that hurts--.”

  
“Here, let me see,” Ryujin said softly, grabbing her hand and gently pulling it away.

  
And then their eyes met, the world around them stopping.

  
Light brown pairs connected with the sharp, dark brown ones. A jolt traveled down their spine at the same time, hands touching, the world in frozen chaos, but they -- in that moment, as quick as it was -- were at full peace. Everything was meaningless, words were gibberish and the stars gasped at the purity of their connection.

  
Then the moment was over and Yeji moved away; the red, lively color of her blood sliding down her nose and onto her lip as she looked at her hands, also stained with the blood.

  
Absolute, total chaos. Every bit of it.

  
Only strange bits and pieces fit in the memory of Ryujin. She remembers very vaguely seeing Chaeryeong and Lia arguing, Yuna knocking another guy cold while she exclaimed for them to come at her if they dared, and the rest of the cafeteria sending food to the sky with no regards for it, while the freshman huddled for safety with one another.

  
Then, abrupt silence. The secretary, the annoying math teacher and coach Choi all standing in the cafeteria doors.

  
“Ah, fuck,” mumbled Shin Ryujin.


	5. Consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short update. I'm sorry for taking so long.

All four girls were seated and sticky at the principal’s office. Shin Yuna sat unusually straight to avoid feeling that… gross sensation that she could not describe neither wanted to, while her friend Ryujin was slumped on the uncomfortable wooden chair -- quietly defying the authority of the pristine man in front of them. Choi Jisu sat upright with her arms crossed and her stone face on while Lee Chaeryeong was next to her fiddling with her fingers and letting her leg bounce away the anxiety. No one was looking at the Principal in the eye, even if he himself ignored them to look at some documents. Behind the girls was none other than Mr. Lee himself, arms crossed and looking mildly sad while Coach Choi stood like superman with arms akimbo and hands on his hips. His age was showing, but his ego persevered. 

In reality, they were waiting.

I did say FOUR girls.

When the wooden door opened, all their heads snapped instantly to the poor girl walking in, our Hwang Yeji whose nose is not broken but very sore and awful looking. She didn’t even bother to look up at the girls at first, dwelling in the uncomfortable (and frankly unwarranted) pain. She only briefly glanced at the Principal, whose impassive face only read indifference, as if he was content she wasn’t sent to the hospital but not quite caring enough for the mishap.

“The nurse says she doesn’t need medical attention, she should be fine,” the secretary said from behind Yeji, out of sight from the teachers’ eyes but not for the students who shuddered looking at that perpetually grim and upsetting eyes just idly by behind the new student. That woman always gave them the creeps for many reasons, and god bless Yeji didn’t know anything.

“Thank you,” the Principal said -- not flourishing his sentence, oddly enough -- and waving her away. When the door closed, he looked back down his papers and pointed to the chair already taken by the hungover Ryujin. “Please have a seat, Ms. Hwang.”

She nodded and walked right to the last, empty chair, sitting down immediately and holding her nose.

“Are you okay?” Chaeryeong was the first to ask, making Yuna lean forward to check on Yeji, too. Jisu followed briefly and Ryujin didn’t even bother to move an inch.

“Yes,” Yeji merely responded with a groan. “Just hurts a ton.”

Jisu scoffed. “Well, I think you should thank Ryujin for that.”

Only then Ryujin moved her head, eyebrows knit together as they have been for over an hour. “Hey, I didn’t--.”

“SHUT UP!” Coach Choi shouted right away, bringing the office back to complete silence.

And of course, making the principal freeze for only a second before the man composed himself. “Thank you, Coach Choi.”

“You’re very welcome, Sir.”

Ryujin went back to brooding, Jisu lifted her chin and kept her arms crossed while Chaeryeong, still fiddling with her fingers, checked up on Yeji until the principal hummed to get all their attention. Finally, he started to speak and internally all the girls wished that this wouldn’t spark a full on monologue.

What is it? You don’t want to hear it? Well, just because I like you I will sum it up for you. A good condensed conclusion. 

Short version: there is none.

Longer version? A despicable performance at the lunch table today! In front of everyone, as well. New students, old students, teachers, lunch ladies and the sports team. How unproper from four fine ladies and Ryujin--.

“H-hey!” Yuna and Ryujin said together.

“Shut up!” The coach howled once again.

The principal continued his garishly decorated speech that oozed too much thesaurus. It was the first day and there were already people sitting in the principal’s office, which is not a good image for the clean and pristine Maroon High. Author’s note on that one? That’s bullshit, but the man was blind to whatever he wanted to ignore. Like truly, truly blind. A strange gift, for sure, and very convenient for his hawk-like eyes on situations that didn’t seem to bother anyone or anything. Also, stressing so much over this seemed a futile effort to reprimand the wrong people, for no reason anyone could think of. There were already a myriad of problems to attend to at the very moment, one of them being the burnt classroom and the make-shift laboratory that they had to wrangle up for Mr. Lee.

Speaking of which, Mr. Lee, at the mention of his classroom, looked down and gulped the quiet rage forming in his throat, not noting the flash of a cocky smile on the Coach. No one saw it, no one could say anything about it.

However, at the mention of fire, Ryujin tensed up a bit and released the tension quickly but rather suspiciously. No one really noticed, except the Coach who was ready to confirm the looming theory that it had been in fact Ryujin, but couldn’t go off of just a shift or a fidget. He had his eyes on her, and Ryujin knew this.

Even Yuna knew this, who raised her hand to ask the obvious. “Do we know who did it, yet?”

Everyone looked at Yuna, then at the principal.

His response had a brief pause at the beginning before he pursed his lips and shook his head. “No, we don’t know yet.”

“But we’re going to find them,” Coach Choi butted in with his voice far too loud for anyone’s liking. Ryujin was the first to flinch and the headmaster was the last. Hell, it felt like it exarcerbated Yeji’s own pain. He cleared his throat and leveled his volume, but didn’t let the aggressiveness die off his voice. “They will pay for what they did. Won’t they, Ryujin?”

Ryujin closed her eyes to avoid letting the principal see her eyes rolling, she slumped back and merely gave a noise of approval. Chaeryeong was watching nervously while forming her own theories while Jisu looked like she was… more upset than usual. She was always pissed about something, but at the moment she seemed to be fuming far more than Yeji herself, who has sore.

However, the topic was soon waved away with more in-coming information. The information was wrapped around in a tinfoil of decorum, but the message was the same. 

Everyone in that room, including the poor Hwang Yeji, were up for detention. 

“WHAT?!” All the girls stood up, except Ryujin, who couldn’t even bother standing up.

“QUIET!” Coach Choi commanded and they all sat down. 

  
… Except Jisu whose face was the pure embodiment of ire at the moment. “What do you mean, detention?”

“Precisely that, young lady. Detention--.”

“Bullshit!”

And everyone was starting to get a little nervous there. Mr. Lee, included. Hwang Yeji was confused but terrified. She didn’t know Jisu all that much yet, but everyone knew that when Jisu wanted to fight she would fight tooth and nail until she either reached a compromise or won, straight up.

But she didn’t have any indication of bending the principal’s will or achieving a compromise today.

“What about the football team? They were there and they started a fight,” Jisu said, leaning against the table. “Why aren’t they getting detention?”

“I spoke to them and they said--.”

“I am being punished for just being in the Cafeteria when this happened, is that it?”

“Shut up and sit down, Ms. Choi!” Coach Choi said. “The football team had no involvement in this whatsoever and we know this.”

Mr. Lee, who had been immobile for the past hour or so, suddenly rose his head to watch both the Principal and the Coach. Just moments ago they were considering if punishing the football team for being involved. They didn’t know about starting a fight, but they knew about them being involved. He was going to rise his hand to speak, but the Principal ignored him.

“Besides, they can’t miss practice, not two weeks away from a game--.”

The… game? Mr. Lee understood everything, they were protecting the football team. Especially because involved within them was the captain. Moreover, their insistence to punish Ryujin who -- at the moment -- had only been breathing seemed…

Dumb.

Things were starting to get out of control, Yeji could sense it by the way her nose trotted up again in pure soreness. She was even ready to break up the fight.

“Woah, woah,” Yuna rose up, hands in the air as well. “They were literally the ones that started it. They grabbed Ryujin and started a scuffle out of nowhere.”

“Y-Yeah,” Chaeryeong piped up nervously. “Taewoon was trying to--.”

“SILENCE!” The principal finally said, standing up from his desk and directly defying Jisu, who refused to sit down as opposed to everyone. “My word is final, Choi Jisu.”

“Your word is bullshit, old man.”

“You got another week of detention for your disrespectful foul mouth, you want another one?”

Ryujin stood up, slowly but cooly. “If you’re going to throw someone in detention, throw me, not Jisu. She didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, thank you, hoodlum,” Jisu said.

“Oh, fuck you, but you’re welcome,” Ryujin groaned.

“Then another week of detention for you too, Ryujin,” the principal piped in immediately, slamming his palm against the desk. “Now, sit down.”

“Oh man,” Chaeryeong whimpered softly to herself. “We’re fucked.”

“You want one, too?” Coach Choi said to Chaeryeong, whose eyes were wide and her body was completely frozen. “You guys can talk all day and we won’t get tired.”

“Just for saying fuck?” Yeji interjected for the first time, pretty lost in everything.

“Another one for you, too.”

“Fuck!” Yuna said enthusiastically, just because, out of the sheer absurdity of the situation.

“Enough!” Mr. Lee shouted, then silence befell the principal’s office.

Interrupted only by the ringing bell.


	6. In These Trying Times...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short update. I hope you guys like it.

Shin Ryujin woke up from her nap curled up in the bathroom stall, a little more conscious and a dash more sober. Well, considerably more sober. Getting up wasn’t a problem, staying up wasn’t a problem and she felt a little more on her… well, head. Glancing at her watch she smirked that the time was as precise as ever. Just after the last class but a little before the allotted detention. Enough time to wake up and enough time to wander around before detention and just enough time to grab a snack from the vending machine. She wasted no time to wash her face, wash her sore knuckles and go right towards the snack awaiting her, the hallways suddenly a lot more empty than before. More and more students filtered out of school, some enthusiastic and some plain tired.

But with all the passing faces walking away, she saw no signs of Yuna. She wondered where she was.

SLAM!

Shin Yuna kicked the janitor’s closet door open with her hands in her pockets and an accomplished, mischievous smile on her face. Her pockets were full with her earnings after a few games of Moogoo Monkey, all cleverly played. Frolicking, she walked down the empty halls and looked around as if to search for her detention mates, banging on lockers and making her own beat obnoxiously reverberate off the walls. She found no one around her, but she hoped that her abhorrent hollering would alert the sleeping Ryujin, only to find the coolest of the Shin already awake by the vending machine, staring at her with a fond smile and a roll of her eyes. “There’s my girl!” Yuna said happily, wrapping one arm around the dispirited Ryujin and dragging her along towards the dreaded detention room.

Well, dreaded for only Yeji who had gotten it into her head that this was the beginning of her academic downfall.

Or, you know, whatever.

Catastrophizing isn’t something Yeji knew to do well, except for today. Let’s not get into the long list of things she was thinking of, instead let’s focus on how she’s the only one seated at the lonely classroom. Right there, in the middle of the room, obediently seated and quiet. Right on time for her detention at that, just five minutes away. The remnants of the previous class were still fresh. Disheveled chairs, fresh gum stuck under the chair, papers scattered on the floor and paper balls all around the room. No sign of the teacher or other students, however. Which made Yeji wonder if she had the wrong room, for some reason.

Her question was soon to be answered by the entrance of Yuna (too happy for Yeji’s taste) and Ryujin (who looked a little better). 

“Well, hello there!” Yuna said, detaching from Ryujin and grabbing her still wrapped chocolate bar. “Whatcha got cooking?” She asked, not expecting an answer and taking her seat towards the back of the room.

And she didn’t get her answer really, Yeji just shrunk a little in her shoulders, looking down and away from Yuna.

“How’s that feeling?”

Yeji looked up to find Ryujin staring at her intently, albeit neutrally. And of course, words escaped her for a moment. Last time she saw Ryujin face to face was when her own vision was a blurry mess. Now looking at her face to face was nerve-wracking, mostly because she emanated this threatening aura that was both alluring and terrifying. Her reputation precedes her, like a cross stuck to her back visible to everyone.

“It’s fine,” Yeji said simply, looking away and fiddling with the end of her sundress. She didn’t like Ryujin, but somehow…

“Yo, Shin, sit down before you fall over,” Yuna said suddenly, breaking the growing tension. 

Ryujin gave her a quick shortle before she moved on, walking past Yeji who had just exhaled in relief.

Yeji knew that people like Ryujin were dangerous, or at least a beacon for trouble. Like a cursed amulet, bringing trouble and judgement everywhere they went. A couple of boys in her previous school were like this, unapologetically so. She knew this girl was walking trouble, she knew it!

She even heard Chaeryeong talk about it.

But…

Yeji looked behind her, just watching Ryujin settling down in her chair. A mundane action that shouldn’t be so enticing to look at. Ryujin dropped to the hard chair with a soft sound, flipping her blue short hair out of the way cooly and placing her feet against the edge of the table. Head tossed back, eyes closed and resting.

Yeji suddenly felt her golden heart stuck on her throat.

Yuna was quietly watching back and forth between Yeji and Ryujin and couldn’t help but to let that shit-eating grin grow.

But where were Chaeryeong and Jisu?  
  


Fighting, verbally this time, as they both still sported the scars of war. Food war, which is hilariously less serious when you remember, but also a waste of good spaghetti. It all started in the bathroom, when Jisu, disturbed, found spaghetti in places she shouldn’t be finding. Chaeryeong had just come out of the bathroom stall, having recently cleaned herself as well. These two only laid eyes on each other through the mirror and one petty phrase was thrown out. It went down that way. At least they were civil enough to continuously bicker in a nice volume where the bathroom walls wouldn’t echo their petty screaming. They were also civilized enough to start walking out of the bathroom, Chaeryeong letting the door open for Jisu to walk out, keeping at the same walking speed and walking together -- as if lovers who were just having a small, insignificant quarrel.

When they entered the classroom fighting, it made Ryujin and Yeji stare in surprise and confusion while Yuna chewed on her fingernails with excitement. A cheerleader fight, as petty as this one, doesn’t always blossom before her eyes! Might as well get the information, get the juicy bits and lavish in the absurdity of it all for a moment before detention. Besides, they have plenty more time to fight when detention takes its course and the teacher inevitably leaves the room to get away from the teenagers they despised.

The bickering was fading, dying off with pathetic little insults that made Yeji uncomfortably shift in her seat. Just her though, considering Ryujin started to tune out uninterested and Yuna internally thought that they could throw better insults than that.

Then, when both of their butts settled down on their chairs -- tactfully and respectfully keeping a distance of six seats -- the silence settled and the tension wafted through the air. No one said a thing for a while, Yeji didn’t even make a sound. Yuna pouted and drummed her coarse fingertips against the wooden table while Ryujin lounged like this was her home, Chaeryeong and Jisu kept their eyes away from each other, still visibly tense and angry. These would be her detention mates for two weeks, Yeji thought while internally cringing.

Outside, in the hallways, echoed the fine shoes of Mr. Lee, the man who walked with light feet like he was sliding on clouds. Dressed casually but looking slightly disheveled at the stress of the day weighed him down.

Yeji straightened up, Chaeryeong and Jisu forgot their differences and Ryujin looked at the man entering the office and instantly put down her feet on the ground.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun,” Yuna mumbled to herself and Ryujin.

It was not that this man commanded leadership when he walked in, it was that he looked and spoke like a man too elegant to be just a simple teacher like he had been someone in the past -- and even in lives before this one. Like a fallen king of the early ages now reincarnated to a mere peasant. He commanded respect, like he had been a war veteran. His way of treating everyone had Ryujin, the most chaotic student he’s dealt with, putting her foot down as a sign of said respect, as a sign that perhaps she will not misbehave this time around. But also, there was tension in his eyes, in the way he looked at each student sitting here -- innocent or otherwise. He had a quiet rage flaring up. Maybe today wasn’t his day.

That made Ryujin a little nervous, which was quite odd in her.

“Everyone,” Mr. Lee Taemin said with his voice loud and clear. “Welcome to detention. I will be the one supervising you today and make sure you learn your lesson -- whatever that lesson may be.”

Silence.

He sighed. “Unfortunately for you, we’ll be heading to the cafeteria for that lesson.”

The laments could be heard in the way they groaned, whined, sighed and tried to speak. But none of that would peel them away from the disaster that became of the cafeteria after the fight. A good part of it had been cleaned briefly by the janitors that shined with their absence. Clearly, their punishment was decided last minute and they were to leave this place squeaky clean before the sun got cozy below the horizon.

Rubber gloves were put in, Yeji tried to wiggle out of everything but the stern Mr. Lee didn’t budge, Yuna was tantalizingly close to the broom and eyeing it suspiciously which made Ryujin scold her (preemptively, just in case she was thinking of something dangerous… or stupid) and Chaeryeong picked the spot the furthest away from Jisu as possible. Quietly, Mr. Lee sat by the double doors and observed the youth work the dirty tables and the tainted walls. Rather than watching to call out any misconduct, he watched inquisitively.

Just a few moments before the teachers expressed their own theories (without being prompted to do so) about the whole laboratory incident. Surprisingly no one really had any proper idea of who could’ve been besides the drop-outs that meandered around the streets and sneaked inside the school during summer. Of course, the most popular name thrown around from THIS school was the very Shin Ryujin. The misfit, the rebellious, the face of the outcasts in school, yet not their leader, for they were all never subjected to be controlled nor taken advantage of.

“Oh yes, that Shin Ryujin is a handful, I don’t want to make an accusation but--.”

Said the secretary, then proceeding to make an accusation. 

  
“Forgive me,” began Lee Taemin. “I am not an expert, but that sounded like an accusation.”

And somehow Mr. Lee made it out of that conversation alive.

So, instead of believing everything that was told to him (without him asking, as well), he sat quietly and took the time to observe this monster-child in the works. The children of today and the future of tomorrow, as redundant as that is. They were just children, he mused, but he found himself fascinated in the way they were interacting quietly with one another, with some hefty distance or close range.

What fascinated him the most was the strange way Ryujin and Yeji (poor girl, her nose looks terrible) gravitated towards each other yet didn’t look at one another. Another fascinating thing was how far apart Chaeryeong and Jisu were, yet they exchanged glances here and there. And… amusing, but a little weird, was Yuna who looked very tempted to taste whatever was stuck on the wall. 

“Maybe don’t do that?” Mr. Lee said, his voice like a sharp spear across the room. Yuna turned around to see him immediately and bowed, moving on with her work.

Yeji looked up as well and found herself speaking aloud as she wiped the table clean. “Did she really want to eat that?”

Ryujin, who thought it was directed to her, laughed and shook her head. “If Yuna wants it, she does it.”

Yeji, slightly surprised, stammered. “Even if it… will make her sick?”

“Especially then,” Ryujin chuckled.

Yeji turned around, seeing the way Ryujin wiped the table next to her and left it squeaky clean masterfully. Her hand worked just as hard, maybe even harder than Ryujin, but these damned stains and dried food wouldn’t go away!

Ryujin looked over and had a soft smirk before it went away. Grabbing her sponge, she walked on over and decided to help the struggling new girl. No words spoken, barely even a glance, perhaps just a small smirk that faded and left no trace. Yeji knew nothing of this girl, if anything she knew that -- perhaps -- this girl was bad news. But her helpful nature was… muddying the once clear azure lake. Suddenly, no assumptions could be made, at least not confidently. Yeji was frozen for a second and visible confusion was in her face, but she continued on.

Mr. Lee noted this. A peculiar duo, these two.

“I still can’t believe I’m here because of you guys,” Choi Jisu mumbled mostly to herself, not caring if Chaeryeong listened.

And she did. “Oh, I’m sorry you’re not here with your dumb friends,” Chaeryeong mumbled in return.

“Those dumb friends are your teammates,” Jisu said -- iconic as ever -- in a matter-of-factly voice that she knows pisses of Chaeryeong.

And so that’s how they started to bicker in between mumbles and hisses.

Mr. Lee noted this too, unfortunately. He was probably given the weirdest handful of girls to deal with. Tension rising, glares intensifying and the odd mixture of… well, bravado? Enthusiasm? Passion, perhaps. He could not describe it.

But… in between all this chaos, there were the tender moments that couldn’t go unnoticed. In between the tense silence, Jisu nearly slipped and Chaeryeong was there to catch her and put her back on her feet before they parted ways to continue their detention; Ryujin herself seemed to be a bit too tired at one point and Yeji -- despite not feeling Ryujin’s vibes -- made sure she sat down and rested a bit, scolding her almost in a motherly manner. What brought the most attention to Mr. Lee was near the end, when they all quietly gathered their belongings and walked side by side. The cleaning soldiers were exhausted, with no energy left in their bodies to fight or bicker. Instead, they just walked and said nothing -- like a strange bond was forming out of the arduous task of cleansing.

Or perhaps it was the situation that had brought them together.

For some reason, Lee Taemin had his suspicions confirmed.

It was never Ryujin, but he couldn’t prove it.


End file.
